punches above its weight (Peugeot 205)

Member Name: pipefish

Product:	Peugeot 205
Date:	01/07/03 (3022 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap to run, powerful for a small car, quick and good to drive

Disadvantages: security, wide turning circle

Well I've had my trusty Pug 205 5 door 1.1 GL for 5 years now so I thought I'd put down some thoughts on how it has fared over the years...

Firstly I have found it very robust - the engine and acceleration are still lively even though the car is only a 1124cc fuel injection and over 8 years old (K reg) with 85K on the clock. I have driven a lot of hire cars and drive 300-400 miles a week and it is still faster off the mark and easier to build up speed than most other small cars such as the Fiesta, Citroen ZX and the Ka. Even driving uphill - for example up a slip-road to join a motorway - it can quickly build up average speed without trouble. Overtaking is not a problem either. However because of its age it cannot compete with newer small family cars (Golf, Focus, Megane, Escort 16v, 206 etc) when pulling way from traffic lights and roundabouts but it can certainly match and keep at their speeds when driving in the outside lane on the motorway although the noise quickly increases to a radio-deafening roar in the cabin at over 80mph.

There have been no problems with it mechanically - I have not had a single breakdown or trouble in over 5 years. The only problem was an old battery that failed one particularly cold winter, however replacing this with a heavy duty battery has solved this and it is still working fine 4 years later. The demister is pretty hopeless so carry a chamois leather or cloth in winter or you'll be sitting waiting for up to 10 minutes to clear the windscreen in the morning if you don't have a garage.
The interior is fine for the car although nothing inspiring - there is a bit of a cheap plasticky setup - it reminds me of one of Mr Clarkson's comments on French cars that the 'unimportant' bits such as the trim, interior fittings etc tend to fall off quickly while the main parts like the engine, chassis and transmission are solid. The dash and display are fine (interior and seating are a light grey se
tup) - since it is not too gimmickly it has not dated badly. The dash is well laid out - left stalk controls the lights and right the windscreen wipers. I find that the clutch pedal has a high biting point on it so switching back after driving another car results in some high revving for the first start and gear changes until you re-adjust. I have also found the paint is a bit thin in places so do not overdo the T-Cut when cleaning up scratches on it!
The driving position is fine and the advantage to the large windows and thin sills is that you can easily see the rear view or look over your shoulder to get a good positional view of the adjacent lane when manoeuvring or joining from a slip road. The bonnet is also easily visible from the driving position - something you do not always get on newer cars. In general this makes the car easy to park and to quickly get to know its width and length.

Trim and fittings are basic for the GL - manual windows, no central locking or power steering, radio cassette, no intermittent or automatic windscreen wiper functions. Some may come with immobiliser and alarm fitted as this was an option when the car was new. If this is the case make sure that the system is not obselete and spares are still available. The standard Peugeot 205 system on mine is now out of date and replacement remote controls are no longer available from Peugeot dealers.

The steering can a bit heavy, especially with parking or 3 point turns, meaning that wrestling the steering wheel is needed. The turning circle is also wide - you will need a road 3 lanes wide (or 2 lanes with parking spaces) to turn round without using reverse. It always feels that there is slight understeer to the car and taking a turn quickly it seems it is trying to drive sideways over the front tyres. However in general handling is nimble and sharp and you can certainly throw the car about and scare your passengers if you want to!


Another problem (as with
many older cars) is the security of the car - which I'm not going to elaborate on here - so use general advice and do not leave valuables on display or in the car for long periods. You may be able to fit immobilisers and steering locks to prevent the car being driven away, but don?t present the opportunity to easily take a mobile phone or similar valuable item by leaving it visible in the car.

The fuel economy is good ? it usually costs £30-35 to fill up the 50 litre tank, which will then last about 300 miles with town and suburbs driving and 350+ if using motorways. I?ve got 400 miles out of a tankful a few times.

Serving generally costs about £180 a year. I find that front tyres tend to go fairly quickly as do front brake disk pads. Rear shock absorbers have also been reported as a problem although I have not replaced them for 5 years and passed the MOT fine every time even though one garage I am no longer using recommended their replacement for the first MOT I had when I bought the car. It has gone through a few exhaust boxes and 2 timing belts but the clutch is still going fine at 80,000+ miles. Apart from this, no problems. Spares are plentiful and cheap, both pattern parts and Peugeot dealer parts. Putting a good set of front tyres on the car makes a difference to its handling but you can always get cheap tyres for £30 each.
Generally I found cowboys garages tended to recommend new brake master cylinders, rear shocks, front brake disks, exhaust boxes, timing belts and clutch fluid nearly every MOT time but finding a good independent mechanic reduced this to front brake pads and tyres.

There's a lot of space in the boot and the back seats easily fold down to provide plenty of extra room if needed. You can just about fit a large 2m IKEA flat-pack or a bicycle in the car with the rear seats down or 1 set of golf clubs with the back seats in place. I have used the car several times for luggin
g about furniture, scuba divi
ng equipment and suitcases for airport runs. The extra weight does not affect the car's sharpness and it can just as easily pull away with a full boot-load although it does affect the braking, which is not anti-lock. The car is affected if you have passengers in it - being a 1.1 engine this makes an appreciable difference on steep hills and pulling away from lights etc.

So overall a good car and cheap to run - they are insurance group 5 or 6 although the GTIs are higher. I have found it very reliable and still a quick car that is fun to drive despite its age and small engine. Most of the older ones still have radio cassette players but you can always upgrade this cheaply. At under £1000 second hand I would consider one a bargain and it is still an ideal first car on the cheap.

update: I've updated this as the car has been doing about 80 miles a day for the last few months which has driven the mileage up by 6,000. It handles the long journeys fine and is good for motorway driving and is comfortable cruising above 80mph although it gets noisy above about 70. The main drawback is the mid-range acceleration which is slow and you notice this when driving on ringroads full of roundabouts and traffic lights - I nearly got overtaken by a Micra the other day. However it is still doing at least 360 miles on about 40 litres of petrol and hasn't caused any problems yet except washer jets continually clogging and the trip counter sticking but there have been no major faults.

Summary: